It’s been more than a month since TI6, Dota 2's largest tournament of the year. After a number of team roster shake-ups and the conclusion of the MDL Autumn 2016 tournament in China this weekend, which saw the newly formed Evil Geniuses beat Team Newbee 3-1, Valve decided it was time to drop the latest update to the game’s meta with patch 6.88e.

Coming the back of 6.88c and 6.88d, both of which saw nerfs to a number of heroes including, Faceless Void and Shadow Demon, Icefrog, the mastermind behind Dota 2's design tweaks, saw fit to prune the wings of even more. While some changes are very minor (Timbersaw’s base strength is now reduced by 1), others are more dramatic. For instance, Keeper of the Light’s Mana Leak ability had its mana cost doubled from 75 to 150, making it harder for him to push opponents out of lane during the game’s early phase.

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Other changes include Faceless Void’s Time Dilation now only affecting the cool down of abilities that have already been used, as well as illusion damage being reduced by 30% instead of only 25%. Counter Helix damage was also slightly reduced, which will certainly contribute to me feeding even more than I already do in pub games. More changes are certainly on the way with the game’s 6.89 patch due out prior to the next Major.